Chapter 20 - Aric
“What’s your problem?” Quaid says.
It takes a moment for me to realize he’s talking to me. I point to myself. “My problem? I don’t have a problem?”
“Then why are you staring at Star with that look on your face?”
My head turns to towards Star, where I was looking before Quaid interrupted my thoughts, so I guess I can see what he’s saying. She’s completely naked, looking like a little fuck bunny—which is a compliment in my book—and I’m caught between feeling horny and trying to force my brain to concentrate.
Quaid is naked too. I glance over at him again—his dick is still hard as he rubs a random towel up and down his shaft, cleaning himself off. And he does this like he’s the only guy in the room, so it’s kinda arrogant.
Of course, I did this as well with the same attitude, but anyway. My point is, I understand why he asked the question. He’s wondering if I’m jealous, maybe. Something along those lines, at least. “I was just thinking,” I say. “About what you two were saying about the paradise place.”
“What about it?” Quaid asks. He’s still got a little heat in his tone.
Which I don’t care about at all. Whatever discomfort he’s feeling over Star is his issue, not mine. I’m trying to focus here. “I’m just trying to understand how we all interact with her in different ways. We all bring out her magic specific reasons, ya know?”
“Or,” Declan says, “she brings out something specific in us.”
I nod. “Yeah. It could be that too.”
“So you’re not pissed off?” Quaid asks.
“Pissed off about what? You and Star?” I shrug up a shoulder.
It is kinda weird that I’m not feeling possessive over her.
Especially since I had her first. Technically, she’s mine.
Like all mine. Like I could claim her and that would be the end of it.
Well, maybe not. But I’d have every right to put up the fight.
My gaze wanders over to Star and I find her watching me intently. She’s got no clothes on and she’s not even crossing her arms, trying to cover her breasts. She just stands there, eyes locked with mine, daring me to make a move.
I don’t think she’d mind if I tried to keep her for myself. I think she might like the idea that I’d fight for her. And I would, but Declan and Quaid are important and I’m not really an impulsive man, so I say, “We can sort it out later,” talking only to her. “Right now, I need them.”
“And so do I,” she says, tilting her chin up. “I like you all.” She looks around, finding Quaid’s eyes first, then Declan’s, and then finally, her eyes meet mine once again. “I want you.” She points to me. “And Quaid. And Declan.”
“All right,” I say.
“What is happening here?” Declan asks. When I look over at him, I find him making a little motion with his finger between Star and me.
“Nothing,” I say. “There’s nothing going on between Star and me at all. But there’s definitely something going on between the four of us. And that’s all I’m thinking about at the moment.”
“She made you her safe word,” Quaid blurts.
I look at him. “What?”
“Yeah. You. If I got out of control, she said she was gonna call for you.”
I glance at Star again with an eyebrow cocked.
She shrugs. “What? You’re the son of Ares. Warrior king extraordinaire, or some such shit, right? Who better to save me from an out-of-control moment of heat?”
“Anyway,” I say, trying to change the subject for like the hundredth time. “As I was saying, there’s a real connection between us and—”
“Yeah,” Star interrupts. “And it’s sexual. Between me and all three of you guys. So…”
I blink at her. “OK. Fine. You guys want to have this out? You want to waste time talking about feelings instead of plotting our escape? Whatever. Let’s do it.
” I look at Star first. “I’m gonna fuck you.
Hard. Regularly. Forever. You’re mine. Not only did I claim you first, I fucked you first. Which, under Olympian laws, means you’re rightfully mine.
So get ready to be ravished three or four times a day.
What you do in between those times is up to you. ”
I look at Declan next. “Enjoy, friend. I think you’re a decent demigod and I don’t mind sharing with you as long as you respect my claim.”
Then I look at Quaid. “If she ever calls out my name when you’re fucking her, I will annihilate you.
I will rip your cock right off your body and feed it to the hounds of hell.
And after that’s done, I’m gonna get nasty.
There.” I throw my arms open wide. “Have I sufficiently displayed my jealous gene? Do you all feel better now that I’ve acted in character?
Are you satisfied? Can we please get on with the escape plan now? ”
Declan raises an eyebrow at me. “You’re really not jealous?”
I shrug. “Of you two?” Which makes him laugh.
“Bro, it’s not even up to me. It’s up to her.
” I point to Star. “She likes all three of us. She wants to fuck all three of us.” I narrow my eyes a little at Declan and Quaid because while Declan hasn’t displayed it much, he’s got a freak vibe coming off him.
And even though I’d have never guessed Quaid was a dom, I can see it now and I’d just like to nip this shit in the bud.
“Just don’t try your kinks out on me, OK?
I am not interested. I don’t want reports, or retellings, or play-by-plays.
Now can we please get on with the business at hand? ”
Finally, I think it sinks in because the three of them trade casual looks and shrugs, then turn their attention back to me with expectant eyes.
“Good,” I say. “Now listen. Here’s how I see it. Star and I together do something to the maze. Probably because I ran this thing thousands of times. I’m connected to it. At the very least, Ares is connected to it and I’m connected to him. I think the glowing walls are saying something.”
“The way out,” Star adds.
I point at her. “Yes. It’s like a cheat. You know, in a game? Because that’s all this place is. Just a game. I’ve been thinking about those glowing symbols on the walls and I think they’re some kind of record of my time here.”
“How’s that work?” Quaid asks.
I shrug. “I dunno. I’m not sure it matters how it works. When Star and I were running, the song would play. Like the wind we created triggered something.” Now I point to myself. “I think that was me. The song? It’s mine.”
“But I’ve been hearing it since I was a girl,” Star says. “Why?”
I shrug. “No clue. Maybe we’re… fate, or something? Not sure. But it’s definitely my song. You’re just attached to it for some reason. But there’s more. Because when we came back to the room, it was the past, remember?”
She nods. “How though?”
“Oh!” Declan snaps his fingers. “I think I understand! Star is Pleiades Eight! An actual Star! Which means, she’s a timekeeper.”
“Hmm,” Quaid says. “Now that is interesting.”
“Why’s that?” I ask.
“Because it makes sense,” Quaid says. “Stars keep the time. They are predictable. Their movements can be calculated. Somehow, she controls time.”
I look over at Star and find her making one of those ‘what-do-know’ expressions as she nods. “That does kinda makes sense.”
“So she controls time.” I point to the floor. “In here, at least. And my song took us backwards.”
“I’m not sure how that’s helpful,” Declan says.
He’s kinda right, but I have an idea. “I don’t know the way out now, but I did back then. After leaving here, I tried to block it all out. I would not be able to find my way out of here. Not easily. I’m too far removed from it. But if we went back in time—”
“You’d know the route!” Star says.
I make a shrug with my hands. “I think I could do it. The song is a record of all my attempts and those glowing symbols—although I’ve never seen them before now, I think that’s how this place kept track of me.
Basically, they’re like an exit sign. So all we gotta do is make this place sing and I’ll be able to follow the signs. ”
“So how do we fit in?” Quaid asks.
“You and those glasses of yours are gonna help me. I mean, there’s a lot of symbols, right? We need computation power. Otherwise, the Minotaur will get us before we can figure it out.”
“What about Paradise?” Star asks. “Why the hell did Quaid and I end up in Paradise?”
I smile. “It’s our destination, of course.
This maze exists in some kind of… I dunno, magical space.
Dimensional space, if you wanna get all scientific and shit.
When I finally won, I ended up in a dark space made of nothingness.
And then, a moment later, I was back in my bed at home. Only I was five years older.”
“Well, we don’t want to end up there,” Declan laughs. “That would not go over well with your father.”
“No shit,” I say.
“But it wasn’t real,” Quaid says. “Paradise, I mean. It was very dreamlike, don’t you agree, Star?”
Star is nodding. “It was. I don’t think it was real either.”
“It was a possibility,” Declan says.
“Exactly,” I say, looking straight at him. “Which leads us to you, Declan. The only one of us who hasn’t unlocked a power yet by getting Star off. You’re our ride, friend. You’re gonna get us all out. You’re gonna turn that dream into reality.”